Menu bar unresponsive with external monitor setup

I don't have much helpful to add except that this consistently happens for me when I unplug my external monitors and then switch to a different account after the monitors are unplugged.

My workaround is to switch to the second user, then before the menu bar completely disappears, switch back to the first user that was active when I unplugged the monitors (If that's not possible I use the power button to lock the screen and then switch to the original user from the login screen), and then switch back to the second user I actually want to use. On the second account switch everything works fine.

Very annoying.

Do you have any program that modifies the menu bar position, like "top notch" or similar?

Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

What is the resolution that your monitor is set to? Maybe it was a matter of linguistics, but "more real estate" would imply setting the monitor to a higher resolution, which seems odd.

Thank you for the report.

There are so many configuration profiles in there... I have no idea what they do and whether they have an effect on the problem at hand.

You also have "MeetingBar" - which apparently is a sort of calendar application that runs from the... menu Bar. I wonder if it has anything to do with meu bar problems. You could temporarily uninstall and see how things go. If there is no change, you can reinstall it.

I am not familiar with this munki software. There is so much stuff that is managed in this machine that I think only the IT guys installing this can give you answers - if they know.

The odd thing is that fresh fresh install...

It would be interesting if there was a chance to try a different mac with the same display and see if that would make any difference. FWIW, I work with external displays all the time, but on an Intel MBP, I don't know if that would make any difference vs an M1 Mac. Also, now that I think about it, I don't connect or disconnect displays when my mac is sleeping, but with it awaken. I will test later, as I have a class to teach in 5 minutes.

iskanje wrote:

Just came to my mind that the setting "Displays have separate Spaces" could have something to do with this issue, as it places the Menu Bar to the external display.

It shouldn't be a problem, but it is worth a try. Losing "Displays have separate Spaces" would be a big blow to the productivity of most people using multiple screens. I thanked Apple when it was introduced in 10.9 and never ever turned it off since then (except for occasional tests prompted by issues in these discussions).

It appears the issue occurs when a laptop is disconnected from an external display while in sleep mode and then when users are switched. I've found a workaround, which is to log out and log back in for the affected user instead of restarting.

The possible steps to recreate the issue are:

1. Log in to multiple users while connected to an external display
2. Let the laptop go to sleep
3. Disconnect from the external display while the laptop is asleep and switch users

Personally, I don't believe it's related to the hardware since it was happening before I upgraded my laptop, possibly since Ventura.

Same problem here. I am running the latest software MacOS 14.3.1 the issue still persists. I thought I was the only one after browsing through the internet and reddit. Stump across this thread and found out people with similar issue.

What I encountered were exactly the same as what the author described, when switching between with two accounts unplug the external monitors and the UI just bugs out. Wonder if Apple is investgating this issue at all... I am planning to give apple support a call and report this behaviour. See if they can do much about it with their software team.

Your workaround worked for me, thank you! It is relatively painless switching users with touchid. Before, my workaround was to log into the user I wanted to use, connect my display, then disconnect it. This is much better.

endwell777 wrote:

Push.. Since two years I have the same issue :(

This is a user-to-user technical support forum. Everyone here is a volunteer, and pushing them is not a good idea.

Read and try all the previous replies to this thread.

If you have additional information to contribute, then include it in a post, along with EVERYTHING you have tried after reading all the previous replies, as well as anything else you have tried.

If that does not work, then consider contacting Apple Support, or the vendor of your monitor, or the vendor of your cable, or the vendor or your adapter, or the vendor of your dock.